Today, Thursday, the World Health Organization called for humanitarian aid to reach the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is besieged by Russian forces, and again condemned the attacks on the Ukrainian health system, and it has been confirmed that it has been targeted by 91 attacks so far.

"The World Health Organization has been able to deliver life-saving supplies in many affected areas, but it is true that (access to) some of them are still," WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said at a press conference broadcast from Lviv in western Ukraine. very difficult."

"I think the priority is clearly Mariupol," he added.

The city has been surrounded by the Russian army and its separatist allies for weeks, facing fierce Ukrainian resistance.

The two sides stress that the humanitarian situation there is catastrophic, the city is widely devastated, and there is great concern about the fate of its civilians, knowing that it had more than 400,000 people before the Russian invasion.

Mass destruction in the city of Mariupol as a result of Russian bombing (Reuters)

accusations and obstruction

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday accused Russia of obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid to Mariupol, to hide the "thousands" of victims.

Kluge stressed that the World Health Organization "has so far been able to deliver 185 tons of medical supplies to the most affected areas of the country, reaching half a million people."

The World Health Organization has also raised the number of confirmed attacks against the Ukrainian health system (hospitals, ambulances, caregivers...) to 91.

"This is clearly a violation of international humanitarian law," Kluge said.

The organization did not directly specify responsibility for the attacks, stressing that it "does not have the authority" to do so.

future and anxiety

The UN official expressed concern about the future, while Russia is massing its forces in eastern Ukraine for a possible new offensive.

He said the WHO was "looking at all scenarios, from continuing to treat victims collectively" to "chemical attacks".

Kluge admitted that "there is no guarantee that the war will not get worse."

It is noteworthy that the city of Mariupol administratively belongs to the Donetsk region of the Donbass region, which was recognized by Russian President Vladimir Putin - before the start of the war - as an "independent republic." For this reason, the separatists in Donetsk consider the Mariupol battles to be "liberation" battles from the "Ukrainian occupation".

The city's lands are also considered the only land bridge linking the Russian mainland with Crimea, which was annexed by Russia, and the separatists tried to control it in 2014, but Ukraine expelled them from it at that time.